News
2011 East Coast Megabyte Regatta in Manchester-by-the-Sea
The warm up Friday dinner served as tactical preparation, so those staying away to catch an early night missed out on some finer points. Ten participants including travellers from Western Massachusetts and Baie d’Urfe/Montreal (CAN) were on the line to face two very different days on the water.
16-Boat Fleet at 2010 Megabyte North Americans
The US Eastern Fleet hosted another fantastic Megabyte event. A record-setting 16 Megabyters showed up to compete for the 2010 NA title. John Rouse of the Southeast Fleet was crowned champion. This is John's first North American title. He beat out a very talented field of sailors to win, including 2008 NA Champ Holly Fabyan.
Champion John Rouse (at left) with runner-up James Hogg (08/17/2010)
THE SE MEGABYTE FLEET CROWNS A NEW MIDWINTER CHAMPION
The 2010 Megabyte Midwinters were held on February 20th and 21st at the Palm Beach Sailing Club in West Palm Beach, FL.
All 8 races were sailed on the Ocean course just east of the sailing club in light to medium winds and 2-3 ft seas. Although turnout was light this year, competition was close for the 3 veteran Megabyte skippers John Rouse, Paul Gingras and David Crawford. Both John and Paul are previous Midwinter champions, and Paul has sailed in every Midwinters since the inception of this regatta 9 years ago.
After 2 days of racing the SE fleet extends a BIG congratulations to David Crawford for winning his first Megabyte Midwinters. David has been racing his MB for 4 years and has spent a lot of time in the boat. His smooth boat handling and consistent finishes were the key to his win. (7 bullets and 1 second place!)
The SE Fleet would also like to thank PS 2000 for their support of the class and this regatta.
Please stay tuned to the Megabyte Class website for announcements on next year’s Midwinters. It will be the 10th anniversary of the regatta and we will be planning some special surprises for the competitors. The anticipated date will be early in March 2011 at the US Sailing Center in Martin County.
Left to right: Paul Gingras 2nd, David Crawford 1st, John Rouse 3rd
2009 North Americans
Charles Witcher of RYC is the new North American Megabyte Champion, having won a tightly fought battle with Fleet 3's David Anderson, by just 1 point. The event, hosted by Richmond YC, CA on September 19 & 20, raced both MKII and original rigs together.
Day 1 (races 1-3) had 21 knot sustained winds with gusts up to 30 knots. Day 2, race 4, was a drifter with 1.7 knot winds. Races 5 & 6 had great winds in the 10-15 knot range. Read the article by Dean Eppley for the full story.
A huge thanks to the Northern California Fleet, led by Dean Eppley, for putting on a great event. PS2000 awarded the winner with an engraved Stainless Steel Clear Start Regatta Watch by Ronstan.
Full results:
|
| Make/Model | Skipper | Yacht Club | Total |
| 1 | PS2000 Megabyte MkII | Charles Witcher | RYC | 7 |
| 2 | PS2000 Megabyte MkII | David Anderson | Megabyte Fleet 3 | 8 |
| 3 | PS2000 Megabyte MkII | Dean Eppley | Folsom Lake Yacht Club | 18T |
| 4 | PS2000 Megabyte | Chuck Hawley | Santa Cruz YC | 18T |
| 5 | Megabyte MkII | Mack Bishop | Folsom Lake Yacht Club | 23 |
| 6 | PS2000 Megabyte | Joseph Motil | Arizona Yacht Club | 28 |
| 7 | PS2000 Megabyte MkII | John Poimiroo | Folsom Lake Yacht Club | 32 |
2009 Megabyte East Coast Championships
Holly Fabyan has claimed another major Megabyte title and won the 2009 East Coast Championships. Way to go Holly! The event was hosted by MYC, MA on August 1-2. The competitors had to face all kinds of conditions over the weekend: high heat, sun, dense fog, flat seas, chop... As always, the US Eastern Fleet made sure a good time was had by all!
45th Whiskeytown Memorial Regatta
Charles Witcher won the May weekend event. Full 2009 results at end of article...
Great photo of the new rig!
(06/02/2009)2009 Megabyte Midwinters East
The South-East Fleet got the 2009 schedule rolling this month by hosting the Mids East. The south Florida weather was perfect with mostly flat water and wind that built from 8-10 up to 15-18 near the end of the day. Greg Berger retained his title by winning his 2nd Midwinters East in a row. Greg also won back-to-back Midwinter titles in 2003 and 2004.
John Rouse, South-East Fleet Captain
For regatta report & results go to the South-East Fleet Section of the website.
(03/25/2009)Washington's Birthday Regatta
February 14-15th, 2009 at the Palm Beach Sailing Club. Multi-class regatta including Megabytes. 2 days of racing in the best weather Florida has to offer.
NOR @ www.pbsail.org
(01/27/2009)2009 Megabyte North Americans
Holly Fabyan wins 2008 Megabyte North Americans
Click here for full results.
(07/29/2008)Finally!! The new MKII rig
After a little over 18 months of development, the new Megabyte MII rig is now in production. Ian Bruce, the person behind the original concept of the Megabyte and the builder of the boat, talks about the rig, the reasons for it's development and addresses the question "Why do we need a new rig when we are happy with the one we have?" It's a valid question!
Read the full story here.
Best Sailboat for the Joy of Sailing
If you like the simple, pure image of a single-handed dinghy but find the laser a little cramped, take a look at the Megabyte.
Read the Nautical Reach review here.
